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Series I. Correspondence 1746-1878 [series]: Ezra Cornell's correspondence consists of hand-written letters sent and
received, drafts of outgoing letters, documents or drafts of documents
intended to clarify or develop certain points in the correspondence, and
occasionally letters between persons other than Ezra Cornell.

The correspondence closely follows and details Ezra Cornell's many business
enterprises, personal interests, family relations, and the founding of
Cornell University. In many cases he used his correspondence as the
"document of record," declaring that a letter was to serve as instruction,
documentation, or mandate. This was true in both business and family
correspondence. Cornell was tireless in self-documenting his affairs and
those of his family, encouraging correspondents to regard their letters as
important works by leaving margins on the pages and improving their
spelling. Most letters were subsequently marked by a member of the family
with the name of the correspondent. Cornell also kept many handwritten
copies of his own outgoing letters.

Cornell and his correspondents (particularly members of his own family)
discussed episodes of poor health, journeys, businesses, fires and floods,
and myriad family matters (including news, gossip, and criticism of family
members). But the letters also display frequent contemporary comment on many
of the issues of the nineteenth century: slavery, the Civil War, temperance,
religion, and national and local politics.

Ezra Cornell's letters reveal a man whose principal values did not change
over the course of a long and busy life. From his first letters to his last,
he ceaselessly preached the merits of industriousness, education ("Knowledge
is power"), abstemiousness, and familial trust and devotion. He was always
generous with his pecuniary accumulations, whether a few dollars or many
thousands, so long as the cause in his view was just and embraced his own
values of education and honest hard work. He was always interested in the
plight and betterment of "colored" people, and employed women from the
beginning. He very clearly believed in the common man's ability to prevail
if afforded the opportunities his times conventionally denied.

The earliest letters derive from his travels through New England, the
Mid-Atlantic states, and the Deep South selling plows and plow patent
rights, and exploring America as a place in which his skills and work could
be turned into industrial and financial success. A proven aptitude for
design, mechanics, and construction, and an acquaintance with Samuel F.B.
Morse resulted in his working with the test laying of the buried telegraph
cable between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. When the trench system failed,
Cornell devised an effective way of stringing the wires on poles, and the
result permitted and ensured the telegraph's success. That achievement
allowed Cornell to direct the enterprise of establishing several new
telegraph lines in the East and Midwest; this involved the selling of stock
and the actual engineering of the projects. The demanding work took him far
from home, and resulted in his writing very many letters in which he
described his work and continued to attempt to maintain control of his
family's upbringing by correspondence. By reinvesting his earnings and
accruing stock in various telegraph lines, he was in the position to
accumulate great wealth when Western Union was formed. The development of
the telegraph industry was contentious from the beginning, and letters refer
frequently to litigation, patent abuse, and the venal behavior of scoundrels
and such "pirates" as Henry O'Reilly. Cornell was regularly dunned for
payment of bills, and he frequently noted his extreme poverty; he was
occasionally sued for payment. Suits dogged Ezra Cornell for much of the
rest of his life. As litigation proceeded, it was not always clear that the
Morse patent would prevail in court.

Throughout the papers, even before the establishment of his wealth, Cornell
is beseeched for money, a job, or some other kind of favor. These appeals
are ubiquitous. He often made small grants. His unquestioned leadership of
the family and concerted efforts to formally augment the honor of the
Cornell family resulted in his being constantly appealed to for aid. The
correspondence is expanded somewhat by responses to Ezra Cornell's
instruction that people in the offices of the telegraph lines, or family
members apprise him of their actions.

The Civil War consolidated Cornell's relationship with members of his family,
including his younger brother Daniel, who was severely wounded at Vicksburg
and thereafter endured a difficult, and well documented, recuperation.
Nephews of Ezra Cornell fought for the Confederacy, and became prisoners of
war. One nephew, Union soldier W. Irving Wood died from wounds received in
battle. Many other letters from friends or constituents describe the War,
recalling the tedium and politics of army life, the tribulations of living
in the field, horrible woundings, and the glory and debasement of battle and
the Civil War itself.

One of Cornell's initial philanthropic efforts was to finance the
construction of the Cornell Public Library in Ithaca, which housed a
library, and also served as a place for the meeting of civil, social, and
religious organizations. An exchange of letters in January 1864 "staggered"
his lawyer F.M. Finch with news that Cornell intended to devote the largest
measure of his fortune to a noble cause that would soon lead to the founding
of a new kind of practical university. From this point until his death in
1874, the correspondence traces Cornell's involvement with the design of the
university, pertaining particularly to the Land Grant endowment and
financing the institution. Cornell had served in the New York State
Legislature with Andrew Dickson White, a like-minded educational idealist
who would become Cornell University's first president. Letters between them
make clear that Cornell would attend to the practical problems of
establishing the college, and that White was to nurture the university's
intellectual foundation.

During a brief foray into the coal oil business in Ohio and Kentucky, and
during his years as a New York State Legislator, Ezra Cornell also kept in
close contact with his family by correspondence, still seeking to manage the
affairs of his children, and concerning himself with the establishment and
development of the family's Forest Park farm; land later to become the
central campus of the University. A life-long interest in the science of
agriculture is revealed as Cornell pays close attention to matters of cattle
and crops, even during his legislative career and while founding the
University. A rumored sixty million dollar legacy from the English Cornell
family and Cornell's life-long pursuit of news and family history from the
DeRuyter Cornells and from other long separated members of the family
resulted in an increase in family correspondence. Letters to Legislator
Cornell reveal New York State residents' problems and needs. When he founded
the University, the newspaper stories resulted in his receiving appeals
claiming pathetic need. In many cases, he sent a few dollars or a few books
to the petitioner.

A detailed correspondence follows his involvement with two other enterprises
late in life: the Albany Agricultural Works, and the American
Photo-lithographic Company, which he founded with Thomas N. Rooker. Rooker
seems to have enjoyed an especially friendly relation with Cornell, one of
the few evidences in the Correspondence Series of non-family cordiality.

January 31, 1843. and children
describing a four day journey from Ithaca to New York City via
stage, railroad, and steamer, relating conditions of travel,
type and cost of food, arrival in the city, and the purchase of
a life insurance policy. Visits and describes the Croton
Reservoir.

April 2, 1843. and children
giving instructions on family deportment, an account of a murder
trial, and comment on Mesmerism, religion, personal faith versus
organized religion, and the difficulties in selling plows.

May 13, 1844 - August 9,
1844n.d. Morse's telegraphic alphabet and phrases written by Samuel
F.B. Morse for use of Ezra Cornell on test line between
Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.

July 28, 1844. and children
describing in detail his journey by coach to Syracuse and train
to Albany, his impressions of the State Geological collection,
and discussing family businesses, finance, and poles for
Benjamin Wood.

July 29, 1844. and children
describing his trip by steamer "Portsmouth" down the Hudson as
far as town of Hudson.

July 29, 1844. Samuel F.B. Morse to Ezra Cornell from New
York:

August 9, 1844. and children
concerning interest in the telegraph from companies in Boston,
Philadelphia, and New York; potential employment with telegraph
for family members; continued description of trip down the
Hudson, including discussion of the raising of a sunken ship
rumored to be that of Capt. Kidd.

June 13, 1847 - June 22,
1847June 21, 1847. British North American Electric Telegraph
Association to Ezra Cornell thanking him for assisting in
instruction of operators and offering him the contract for
crossing the St. Lawrence.

December 28, 1847 - December 31,
1847December 28, 1847. B.B. French, President of the Magnetic
Telegraph Company to Ezra Cornell regarding shares issued as
dividend payments and current operations of eastern lines.

September 11, 1849 - September 19,
1849September 17, 1849. J.J. Speed to Ezra Cornell, diagrams and
description of new "switch" he had developed which would allow
transmitting of messages over long distances without rewriting
(connecting circuits). 2nd letter, same date, concerns progress
on new western lines (Cleveland & Cincinnati, St.
Louis).

September 20, 1849 - October 4,
1849September 20, 1849. Beach Brothers to Ezra Cornell inquiring as
to arrangements for transmission of news messages for The
New York Sun over the New-York & Erie and the
Erie & Michigan lines. (Letter of October 1, 1849 indicates
this idea has been abandoned by the Beach Brothers)

September 20, 1849. J.J. Speed to Ezra Cornell concerning
prospects looking good for new western lines, O'Reilly conflict,
and connecting circuits.

October 20, 1849 - October 31,
1849October 20, 1849. D.T. Tillotson to Ezra Cornell reporting on
survey of Chenango Valley. October 20, 1849. E.D Benedict to
operators connected with Cleveland and Pittsburgh line detailing
a

October 27, 1849. J.J. Speed to Ezra Cornell describing continued
experiments with his switch.

October 29, 1849. Ezra Cornell to D.T. Tillotson discussing
Ithaca area lines (Waterloo and Elmira), operations of House
line and Bain telegraph lines in the east, and the business of
the New-York & Erie line.

November 1, 1849 - November 26,
1849November 4, 1849. E.B. Cornell to Ezra Cornell discussing the
potential of the Cincinnati, Wheeling, & Pittsburgh line and
his view of Speed's switch as an important improvement in
telegraph operations.

November 15, 1849. Letters of condolence from H.C. Buell and W.W.
Marks to Alonzo B. Cornell on the death of his sister
Elizabeth.

November 24, 1849. Phebe Wood to Ezra Cornell, expressing
sympathy on Elizabeth's death and discussing the success of
women telegraph operators:

December 15, 1849 - December 26,
1849December 18, 1849. J.J. Speed to Ezra Cornell discussing
finances, results of his work in Ohio, and future plans for
lines to the west.

December 22, 1849. Ezra Cornell to Board of Directors of Hudson
River Railroad Company proposing a reciprocal arrangement for
the right to erect poles along the railroad line from New York
to Poughkeepsie and for free passage of his men in return for
telegraph services for railroad business.

December 25, 1849. Ezra Cornell to Mary Ann and children, from
Peekskill:

October 6, 1851. J.J. Speed to Directors and Stockholders of
New-York & Erie Telegraph Company reporting on telegraph
lines and the business they are doing, the problem of brimstone
caps, and recommendations for improving the line and
business.

July 27, 1854 - August 15,
1854July 27, 1854. Ezra Cornell to Alonzo B. Cornell from Detroit
concerning underground telegraph, family news and health, and
instructions to Ellen on the care of the children in Ezra and
Mary Ann's absence.

October 20, 1854 - November 2,
1854October, 20, 1854. George Curtiss of the New York, Albany and
Buffalo Telegraph Company to Ezra Cornell requesting that a
meeting be held to discuss a permanent Western connection.

October 20, 1857 - December 21,
1857October 20, 1857. Ezra Cornell to Dr. S.E. Shepherd describing
some of his Ithaca property and proposing its use for a water
cure establishment.

November 30, 1857. Ezra Cornell to the President and Directors of
the New York, Albany & Buffalo Telegraph Company on behalf
of the Directors of the New York and Western Union Telegraph
Company offering the sale of their lines.

January 29, 1858 - March 17,
1858February 12, 1858. Henry O'Reilly to Ezra Cornell requesting any
documents and papers he may have connected to the establishment
of the telegraph for a collection O'Reilly was arranging.

February 28, 1858. Ezra Cornell to Mary Ann with news of his
travels, telegraph business, and the various responses his "RR
Moddle" received.

August 3, 1858 - October 10,
1858August 30, 1858. Ezra Cornell to the President of the Republican
County Convention naming Alonzo B. Cornell as Ezra Cornell's
substitute for the position of delegate from Ithaca and speaking
of the importance of the coming election and counseling "wisdom
and harmony in the deliberation and action of the
convention."

October 23, 1860. J.J. Speed to Ezra Cornell thanking Ezra
Cornell for his gifts of books and the Cornells' visit, and
describing the welcome accorded the Prince of England in
Portland. October 27, 1860. D.B. Cornell to Ezra Cornell:

January 1, 1861 - January 18,
1861January 1861. Letters from Paul J. Cornell to Ezra Cornell
discussing Cornell family genealogy and stating the position of
the South versus the North regarding slavery and states'
rights.

February 19, 1863 - February 28,
1863February 20, 1863. Arad Joy to Ezra Cornell from Ovid requesting
Ezra Cornell to have a bill introduced for appropriating lands
to the New York State Agricultural College.

March 2, 1863 - March 10,
1863March 2, 1863. Ezra Cornell to F.M. Finch concerning the design
of the library building and suggesting that all architects from
Ithaca be given an opportunity to submit plans for "an edifice
from which the rays of light and knowledge was to eradiate to
her present and future generations."

August 1, 1863 - September 7,
1863August 3, 1863. D.B. Cornell to Ezra Cornell including a
meticulous account of his participation in the Battle of
Vicksburg and his near fatal injury suffered in the assault:

February 11, 1865. Ezra Cornell to Alonzo B. Cornell from Albany
discussing progress of the University Bill.

February 12, 1865. Ezra Cornell to F.M. Finch from Albany
concerning oil business, appropriation of profits, report on
People's College, the progress on the University Bill and list
of possible names for the board of trustees.

1865. Handwritten draft by Ezra Cornell discussing the Cornell
University legislation, the conditions of his $500,000 gift, the
nature of the University, the financing of the University, and
the selection of its trustees and president.

February 15, 1866 - February 26,
1866February 22, 1866. F.M. Finch to Ezra Cornell proposing
disposition of Cascadilla Place, and suggesting plans for
Cornell University and the Cornell Public Library:

September 13, 1867 - September 23,
1867September 23, 1867. Ezra Cornell to the Trustees of the Cornell
University reporting on construction of first two buildings,
building fund, finances, building plans, land scrip fund, and
use of land scrip.

January 1, 1868 - January 13,
1868January 2, 1868. Andrew Dickson White to Ezra Cornell discussing
sale of land scrip, meeting of professors in the spring, and
preparation of circulars about the University.

May 13, 1868 - May 26,
1868May 13, 1868. Andrew Dickson White to Ezra Cornell from Paris
describing his efforts to gather books and other materials for
the University, and reflecting on the University:

May 7, 1869 - June 7,
1869May 14, 1869. Alonzo B. Cornell to Ezra Cornell from New York
regarding the hiring of Scotch English or German immigrants to
work as less expensive laborers at the University:

November 1, 1869 - November 23,
1869November 18, 1869. E.C. Ward to Ezra Cornell thanking him on
behalf of the Woman's Parliament for his offer of aid to Miss
Manedel in the establishment of her Horticultural School for
Girls:

March 13, 1872 - April 25,
1872April 2, 1872. Andrew Dickson White to Ezra Cornell regarding the
sale of college lands, a contemplated resignation of the
Presidency, the building of a private residence, and the
long-range development of the University.

February 4, 1873 - March 19,
1873February 16, 1873. Ezra Cornell to Hon. Nelson K. Hopkins regarding withdraw of 1025 shares of Western Union stock in accordance with contract of November 1865 and development of the University.

This undated material pertains to the telegraph industry, the Wood
family in Albion Michigan, Cornell University, and includes several
appeals to Ezra Cornell for aid.

Many pieces are fragments, scraps, or parts of dated letters; the
undated correspondence includes calling cards, and drafts of
outgoing letters by Ezra Cornell concerning several important
matters of the telegraph industry, the Cornell family, and the
University.

March 1, 1860 - January 3,
1863July 7, 1860. E.B. Cornell to Elijah Cornell from Ithaca discussing
local news and family news, including a 'baloon assension' in Ithaca
and the work he is doing for Ezra Cornell.

December 15, 1860. Benjamin Cornell to Elijah Cornell from
Agricultural College in Ovid:

December 18, 1860. O.H. Perry Cornell to Mary Ann Cornell from
Agricultural College at Ovid:

June 4, 1861. Edward S. Cornell to Elijah from Michigan Asylum
discussing his health, the Asylum, and his desire to return to his
farm.

Series II: Letterbooks, Notebooks, Diaries
(1841-1873) [series]: Ezra Cornell's diaries and notebooks, thirty-three in number, were kept as
companion pieces to his correspondence and served a documentary and
communicative function. The diaries sometimes provide a slightly different
viewpoint from the one addressed in family correspondence. Topics include
travel, plow business, telegraph business, farming, politics, and Cornell
family history and genealogy. The letterbooks are bound copies of outgoing
letters concerning the telegraph industry and the founding of Cornell
University.

37

Letterbook: April 30, 1846 - May 9, 1847 (1)

37

Letterbook: May 26, 1847 - May 16, 1852 (2)

37

Letterbook: January 6, 1848 - December 5, 1851 (3)

37

Letterbook: February 18, 1853 - September 4, 1853 (4)

37

Letterbook: August 17, 1853 - November 8, 1858 (5)

37

Letterbook: March 7, 1866 - December 3, 1866 (6)

37

Letterbook: October 1, 1867 - February 24, 1873 (7)

38

March 19, 1841 - April 8, 1841; June 9, 1848 - July 18, 1848; May
4, 1851 - September 20, 1851 (1)Diary of 1841 trip to New England to visit mills, observe uses of
waterpower, and promote Ithaca as a manufacturing center. Includes
detailed description of Boston and many New England mills and factories.
Daily entries in 1848 and 1851 concern telegraph business and travels
through New York and New England checking and repairing lines.

January 24, 1843 - May 30, 1843 (3)Diary with daily entries from journey through the South selling plows and
plow patent rights. Provides description of travel by railroad,
steamboat and foot, reports on personal health and treatments, and
details of meals, including "a real log cabin supper." Diary includes
observations of Southern businesses and descriptions of Monticello and
Mount Vernon.

February 17, 1843 - June 4, 1843 (5)Notebook from trip to the South, includes remedies for the croup and
consumption, census figures for counties in North Carolina, plow
business notes and accounts, details of routes traveled, and notes on
Southern factories.

October 5, 1846 - January 6, 1847 (6)Diary of Cornell as the Superintendent of the New York, Albany &
Buffalo Magnetic Telegraph Company. Includes details of travel,
directives given, and repairs made on lines. Diary ends with resignation
submitted to Theodore Faxton.

October 6, 1852 - April 12, 1853 (11)Dairy of work on New York telegraph lines. Includes details of travel,
line repair, building of lines, conflicts with Smith, purchase of Ohio,
Indiana & Illinois Telegraph Company, and other telegraph business.
Also includes some family news.

April 13, 1853 - September 28, 1853 (12)Diary of work in the telegraph business. Includes travels in New York,
Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, the leasing of the Ohio, Indiana &
Illinois line, and sales of telegraph stock.

November 1, 1855 - June 1, 1856 (13)Diary of work in the telegraph business in New York and the west.
Includes the consolidation with the House Company, Cornell's work as
superintendent of part of the Union line (responsible for the Erie &
Michigan line from Buffalo to Milwaukee and also of the circuit west of
Cleveland), and a description of Hughes printing telegraph. Also
includes details of travel and some family news.

1861 (15)Diary and cash accounts. Includes details of life in Ithaca where Cornell
is "home all day" and involved in the Tompkins County Agricultural
Society, the Farmers Club, raising sheep and cattle, and collecting
agricultural statistics. Also includes travels to Washington, D.C. and
attendance at Lincoln's inauguration.

1862 (16)Diary and cash accounts. Includes work in the New York State Legislature,
interest in agricultural machinery, and a proposal to rescue the
agricultural school and start an agricultural and military school. Also
includes some detail of trip to England and Europe.

May 31, 1862 - September 17, 1862 (17)Diary of trip to England, with details of the crossing from New York to
Liverpool, travels in England and herds of pedigreed shorthorns visited.
Also includes an alphabetical listing of Cornells in the United States
with addresses and dates.

1863 (19)Diary and cash accounts. Includes records of telegraph stock and various
financial records. Note in back of diary to "enquire what the effect of
large endowments are upon colleges in the Old World -- How many
graduates do they send out, & c."

1866 (22)Diary and cash accounts. Includes details of trip to Wisconsin to "hunt
lands" and other work concerning Cornell University and college land
scrip. Also includes Western Union business and financial notes.

1867 (23)Diary and cash accounts. Includes notes on Cornell family history and
genealogy, applicants for notary public, and collections for the
University as well as business and financial information.

1870 (26)Diary and cash accounts. Includes notes concerning business of Albany
Agricultural Works and Western Union and notes on Cornell family history
and genealogy. Also, details concerning Cornell University, including
listing of where students are from, housing in Cascadilla place, and
reports on Wisconsin lands.

1871 - 1873 (27)Diary and cash accounts. Includes business statistics of Western Union
and Albany Agricultural works, railroad business and notes on Cornell
family history and genealogy. Also includes details concerning a trip to
the Mid-West and land grant business.

Undated (33)Notebook with listing of Cornells with cities, states, and businesses.
Also list of people to whom circulars of Cornell University were to be
sent.

Series III: Financial Records (1821-1874) [series]: Financial records include bills of sale, statements of accounts, orders for
equipment and supplies in connection with the telegraph industry, the
establishment and operation of Cornell University, and the Cornell
family.

39

Financial records: October 1829 - November 1847

40

Financial records: November 1847 - August 1848

41

Financial records: August 1848 - July 1849

42

Financial records: July 1849 - March 1850

43

Financial records: March - November 1850

44

Financial records: December 1850 - September 1851

45

Financial records: September 1851 - May 1853

46

Financial records: May 1853 - July 1853

47

Financial records: July 1853 - May 1854

48

Financial records: June 1854 - February 1855

49

Financial records: March 1855 - April 1855

50

Financial records: May 1855 - September 1855

51

Financial records: October 1855 - April 1856

52

Financial records: May 1856 - April 1865

54

Undated financial material

55

Stock transfer books: 1831-1859

56

Ledger: 1839 - 1862

57

Cash books: 1831-1841

58

Cash books: 1840-1850

59

Cash books: 1844-1873

60

Ledgers: 1846-1851

61

Cash books and farm records: 1849-1861

62

Miscellaneous financial material: 1862-xxxx

63

Account books: 1862-1863

64

Ledgers: 1864-1865

65

Stock books: 1850, 1851, 1861

99

Photostats of some financial material: 1864-1866, 1874

100

Checks and promissory notes: ca. 1863-1870

Series IV: Documents And Legal Papers (1831-1874) [series]: Many forms of hand-written and printed documents are represented in this
series, and include indentures, agreements, articles of association and
agreement, deeds, receipts, sketches, official reports of corporations,
announcements (as by railroad and telegraph companies), petitions, stock
transfers, notice of legal proceedings, blueprints, small broadsides,
hand-drawn maps, legislative bill announcements, lithographic drawings,
drafts of speeches, hand-written copies of outgoing letters assembled for
legal purposes, and many other kinds of material. Most of these pertain to
Cornell's involvement with the telegraphic industry and the founding of the
University; others concern New York State legislation and Cornell family
matters.

66

January 22, 1831 - November 23, 1842

66

November 24, 1842 - May 25, 1845

66

May 29, 1845 - April 1, 1846

66

April 6, 1846 - May 24, 1847

66

June 5, 1847 - November 1, 1847

66

March 7, 1848 - May 1, 1848

66

May 13, 1848 - February 18, 1850

66

March 25, 1850 - August 7, 1850

66

December 13, 1850 - January 21, 1853

66

January 22, 1853 - December 12, 1853

66

January 26, 1854 - November 28, 1854

66

December 18, 1854 - September 20, 1855

66

January 11, 1856 - September 22, 1858

66

October 15, 1858 - October 22, 1860

66

October 25, 1860 - October 25, 1862

66

November 4, 1862 - March 18, 1863

66

March 20, 1863 - January 13, 1864

66

January 29, 1864 - April 23, 1864

67

February 12, 1864 - April 18, 1865

67

April 25, 1864 - December 10, 1864

67

December 16, 1864 - March 22, 1865

67

March 25, 1865 - December 19, 1865

67

December 31, 1865 - April 24, 1866

67

May 1, 1866 - August 13, 1866

67

September 2, 1866 - June 7, 1867

67

September 1, 1867 - April 6, 1868

67

April 23, 1868 - September 24, 1868

67

October 19, 1868 - August 16, 1869

67

September 8, 1869 - December 14, 1870

67

January 11, 1871 - December, 1871

67

January, 1872 - May 3, 1873

67

January 27, 1873 - December 16, 1873

67

October 13, 1874

68

Miscellaneous documents collected and arranged as a discrete unit
by members of the Cornell family; various dates.

Series V: Telegraph Material (1845-1914) [series]: Telegraph material includes printed brochures, historical writings, articles
of association and agreement, reports, receipts for telegraph stock,
proceedings of boards of directors for various telegraph companies, by-laws
and incorporation papers, copies of the American Telegraph Magazine and
Schaffner's Telegraph Companion, notices, scientific articles, legal briefs
and comment on suits, charts of tariffs and charges, financial papers and
other printed pieces. Stock subscriptions for the Ithaca and Palmyra
Telegraph (1849) bear Ezra Cornell's annotations and lists of subscribers.
In addition to the Western Union Telegraph Company, other organizations
include the Erie & Michigan Telegraph Company, the Washington and New
Orleans Telegraph Company, the New York and Erie Telegraph Company, the
Franco-American Telegraph, the Atlantic Telegraph, International Ocean
Telegraph Company, the East India Telegraph Company, the Russian American
Telegraph - Western Union Extension, and several other domestic lines and
companies.

Series VI: Court Proceedings [series]: Includes Cornell legal cases, including the 1872 Woodward vs. Cornell suit to
recover money for services performed by W.A. Woodward for Ezra Cornell in
locating public lands in Wisconsin, and the Surrogate Court's proceedings in
the matter of the estate of Ezra Cornell.

Series VII: Estate Records [series]: Papers pertain to Ezra Cornell's will and estate, and include mortgages,
warranty deeds, tax papers and documents, title abstracts, land contracts,
bonds, receipts, and other papers.

Series VIII: Scrapbooks, Broadsides, Maps, Photographs,
Clippings, Ephemera, and Genealogical Information [series]: Several forms of material document the chief vocations and enterprises of the
life of Ezra Cornell. Newspaper clippings kept by Cornell and later by
members of his family chiefly concern the telegraph industry and the
founding of Cornell University. Other topics and issues featured in the
clippings include the growth of American railroads, the Republican Party,
local and national politics and government including Ezra Cornell's
candidacy and service in the New York State Legislature, and real estate
especially pertaining to the Wisconsin lands; also mining, scientific
advancement, medicine, and other issues. Other material includes
agricultural catalogues, maps, particularly of lines of the developing
telegraph industry and Wisconsin lands; photographs of Cornell and his
family; broadsides; Ezra Cornell's "ciphering "book" (1823-1860) which
included financial and arithmetic lessons and calculations; the Manual of
the Common Council of New York, material from the New York State
Constitutional Convention of 1867, calling cards, railroad passes, the New
York State Agricultural Society's medal presented to Cornell for his cattle,
Cornell's ceremonial wedding socks, and a volume celebrating the Cornell
Public Library. Also, biographical and genealogical materials, and printed
materials concerning Cornell University.

[For genealogical information, see also Rev. John Cornell, Genealogy
of the Cornell Family: Being an Account of the Descendants of Thomas
Cornell of Portsmouth, R.I. (New York: T.A. Wright, 1902) -
digital copy available.]

81

Clippings, 1847-1873.

82

Clippings, 1852-1874.

83

Ezra Cornell's Cyphering Book, 1823-1860.As well as having notes from his youth the book also contains later notes
by Ezra about his fortunes and how he should spend his wealth.

Drawing, painting, broadsides, scrapbookDrawing of Ezra Cornell's home on the corner of Seneca and Tioga Streets
in Ithaca; painting of Elijah Cornell; Chalk portrait drawing of Ezra
Cornell as a young man; broadsides; scrapbook.

87

Miscellaneous printed materialsPrinted agricultural materials including catalogues of Ezra Cornell's
Short Horned Cattle, Valleyview Farm Poultry by Ezra Cornell, Albany
Agricultural Works and other catalogues and broadsides; report of Ezra
Cornell, President of the New York State Agricultural Society, on the
Exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society of England held at
Battersea, July 1862; address delivered by Ezra Cornell to the New York
State Agricultural Society in 1863.

Speech by Ezra Cornell on the Question of a Ship Canal connecting Cayuga
Lake with Lake Ontario (given before the Committee of the Whole Senate
of the State of New York in 1864); printed materials concerning
educational institutions, including People's College; Phrenological
Journal, March 1866; maps and plans concerning village of Cornell and
Brunett's Falls in Wisconsin; printed materials concerning the Institute
of Reward for Orphans of Patriots; other general printed materials.

88

Biographical materials on Ezra CornellIncluding handwritten manuscript on the life of Ezra Cornell (by
himself?); scrapbook pages of clippings of articles and obituaries on
the death of Ezra Cornell; interview with Otis E. Wood by Prof. Charles
H. Hull in 1907.

89

Printed materials concerning Cornell University and founder Ezra
CornellIncluding the Cornell University First General Announcement; copy of the
Act to Establish Cornell University; In Memoriam the Death and Burial of
Hon. Ezra Cornell; Report as to the condition of the Cornell University,
made to its alumni, June 1883; Centennial Day Publications; Founder's
Day announcements, invitations, songs, and addresses given by Andrew
Dickson White, Francis M. Finch, Andrew Carnegie, and others.

90

Cornell Family Genealogical materialsIncluding handwritten genealogy of the Cornell Family by Ezra Cornell,
and miscellaneous family papers from after the death of Ezra
Cornell.

Clippings, maps, and printed materialsIthaca Journal pages relating to the death of Ezra Cornell; maps and
floor plans pertaining to Ithaca, Cornell Public Library, and Cornell
University; other clippings and printed materials.

Folder 5

MapsMaps of Wisconsin, including Barron County and village of Cornell;
Traveler's map of the Middle, Northern, Eastern States and Canada,
showing all the railroad, steamboat, canal, and principal stage routes,
1849; Maps of railroad routes; maps of Minnesota, 1865 and Mackinaw
City, 1857; other printed maps.